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Topic Review (Newest First)

01-04-2013 12:28 AM

Williak

Salty, whatever happened to this tank? I was gone from the forums for about 3 months, and this was the first I checked when I came back Would love to see some updates.

12-12-2012 03:36 AM

jpalimpsest

I'm eyeing this little tank too.
Any updates?

10-19-2012 02:17 PM

SaltyNC

Thanks, Silmarwen. So far, all my other fish are doing fine, and the other oto isn't showing any signs of a problem, so I think it was just a freak accident or a natural death.

10-16-2012 08:15 PM

Silmarwen

Quote:

Originally Posted by SaltyNC

I had my first fish loss last night. I discovered an oto in the back corner lifeless. It looked healthy and happy just the day before with great coloration, so I'm really not sure what happened. The coloration and condition of the fish even looked good when I removed it from the tank. My thought is that perhaps it decided to clean the intake tube and made its way down to the bottom of the tube where it encountered the water suction and suffered some internal damage. Water parameters remained unchanged.

I'm sorry to hear that If it's just physical damage, though, at least the others won't be affected, right?

10-15-2012 06:00 PM

SaltyNC

I had my first fish loss last night. I discovered an oto in the back corner lifeless. It looked healthy and happy just the day before with great coloration, so I'm really not sure what happened. The coloration and condition of the fish even looked good when I removed it from the tank. My thought is that perhaps it decided to clean the intake tube and made its way down to the bottom of the tube where it encountered the water suction and suffered some internal damage. Water parameters remained unchanged.

09-28-2012 08:58 PM

SaltyNC

Quote:

Originally Posted by sayurasem

Definately one of the best bookshelf tank!

Thank you so much.

Quote:

Originally Posted by onekraz3

Wow gorgeous.. Everytime i go to petco i stop and look at these tanks.. Nice to see whats possible with them.

Really appreciate the kind words. Its a fun tank to play around with.

09-28-2012 10:29 AM

onekraz3

Wow gorgeous.. Everytime i go to petco i stop and look at these tanks.. Nice to see whats possible with them.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I727 using Tapatalk 2

09-28-2012 07:50 AM

sayurasem

Definately one of the best bookshelf tank!

09-28-2012 02:55 AM

SaltyNC

Week 14 Picture

I wasn't planning on posting any more pics until my hemianthus glomeratus filled in completely and grew to the top of the tank, so I could trim it into a curving outline behind the rocks, but...

L8nite posted a generous RAOK that required a tank pic with a notecard to enter, so here's the Week 14 shot. As you can see, I have a little algae on my rock, but I don't mind that. This shot also shows where I moved my diffuser next to the HOB filter. The blurs are my boraras brigittae darting all over the place. For the final shot, I'll remove all hardware, throw some flash on those fish, and get a hi-res shot. See you in a few weeks.

09-28-2012 02:49 AM

SaltyNC

Quote:

Originally Posted by GMYukonon24s

That's a beautiful tank.

Thank so much, GM.

09-26-2012 04:09 PM

GMYukonon24s

That's a beautiful tank.

09-26-2012 03:15 PM

SaltyNC

Quote:

Originally Posted by mattschaefer92

It looks really good. Keep up the good work.

Thank you, Matt.

09-25-2012 12:03 AM

mattschaefer92

It looks really good. Keep up the good work.

09-24-2012 11:14 PM

SaltyNC

Week 14 Update - Almost complete

Week 14 has come and gone, and I will wrap up this journal in a week or two with a final image of the tank.

Against popular recommendations, I moved my CO2 diffuser next to my HOB filter's outflow. Contrary to the reduction in CO2 as I have seen reported, in my case this increased the amount of CO2 in the water. When the diffuser was against the side, there was a slow, easy flow of water past it, such that many of the CO2 bubbles simply rose to the surface and most were lost to the atmosphere before they could be absorbed. This also leads me to question why Amano's diffuser with the curved glass tubing is so high on the side of the tank. Wouldn't it be better positioned at the absolute lowest position in the tank to give the CO2 bubbles the greatest amount of time in the water as they rise? If anyone can explain that, I would appreciate it.

After moving the diffuser next to my HOB filter, the bubbles begin to rise, but the bubbles are then pushed down into the water column where they swirl around the tank for much longer and many appear to completely dissolve. All of the plants began to respond positively. The greens are now the most intense I have seen thus far, and the algae has been practically eliminated. I will likely alternate the location of the diffuser back to the corner every few weeks to try to evenly distribute the CO2.

The microsword (Lilaeopsis brasiliensis) is spreading into the dwarf hairgrass and is producing an interesting look. Right now, I like the look, but eventually it may push out the DHG.

The boraras brigittae continue to color up, but then inexplicably seem to lose color at times, creating a cycle of intensity. Perhaps it is the stress of the weekly water change. I keep the parameters (hardness) and water temp consistent when I change the water, but perhaps it is just the stress of a lowering water level and then the replacement of that water that stresses them into their pale alter-egos.

I am overrun with ramshorn snails, but they eat algae, so they remain for now. My nerite travels the tank daily, making his slow rounds, his mouth part always scraping away. If I didn't know I had Amano shrimp, I sure couldn't tell from looking into the tank. They rarely come out when the lights are on.

The prominent rock in the center of my scape is lighter than the rest. It didn't appear so when I collected it, but with the close proximity to the light, it makes it appear even lighter. That is clearly a mistake. I should have also added a little more slope to my substrate and probably should have used some substrate supports to maintain that slope. I'm sure there are many other mistakes, but I like to point out what I consider mistakes in the hopes that it will help others just starting their journey.

No pics this time, but stay tuned in a week or so for those with any interest in my feeble attempt at aquascaping.

09-24-2012 10:59 PM

Silmarwen

Quote:

Originally Posted by SaltyNC

Silmarwen, thank you for the kind compliment. Please post a tank journal if you decide to try one. I like the 12 gal long tanks, too. After the water flow issue is out of the way, those make very nice compact tanks that look much, much larger than they are in reality. I wish you the best with your tank.

You're very welcome, and I most certainly will post a journal if I get to do one. I looked a bit at the 12 gal longs and perhaps, if I can get a hold of one, that might be the tank for me. Thanks again!

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